


the way we fall apart

by Tedronai



Category: Machineries of Empire Series - Yoon Ha Lee
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, Implied Past Jedao/Kujen, Kujen shows up because of who I am as a person, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 12:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17043614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tedronai/pseuds/Tedronai
Summary: Cheris attends Nirai Industries' New Year's party with Jedao. What could possibly go wrong?





	the way we fall apart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovepeaceohana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovepeaceohana/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide~! ^_^ You said you enjoyed AUs and I had this persistent plot bunny for a modern AU so I hope this is alright!

The ballroom was brightly lit, packed with people, and overly warm with the heat of the milling bodies that even the most sophisticated air conditioning couldn’t fully combat. Cheris sipped her drink cautiously; she’d not had a chance to ask what it was, but it was sparkling and lightly fruity, not too sweet, and strongly alcoholic. She didn’t usually drink much, and she made a mental note to pace herself and not even try to keep up with her date. 

Jedao was going through his second glass already, outwardly appearing in a great mood as he led her across the room, exchanging greetings and radiating killer charisma, but through her hand resting lightly on his arm Cheris could feel the underlying tension in his movements. She suspected he was no happier to be here than she was, and that was a little comforting, but also raised all kinds of questions that this was neither the time nor the place to ask. As they passed through the crowd, Cheris could feel the eyes on her, speculating and in many cases more than a little jealous; Jedao was handsome and dangerous and apparently this was a combination that anyone even marginally attracted to men couldn’t resist.

She still wasn’t quite sure what had made Jedao ask her as his date to the annual Nirai Industries New Year’s party — or what had made her accept — but here she was, wearing a glittering black gown that likely cost more than she made in half a year and heels that bordered on suicidal, probably earning dozens of enemies simply by virtue of being seen with Jedao, the object of many a woman’s wildest fantasies.

Cheris had only been working for Nirai Industries for less than two years, and never in her wildest dreams — or, let’s face it, nightmares — had she expected to be invited to one of the company elite’s infamously over-the-top parties. In the summer just past, however, she’d worked on a project for a mysterious client, and though she had only been one person in a team of scientists, her contribution had somehow made enough of an impression that the client had asked to meet her in person. The client, of course, had turned out to be Garach Jedao Shkan, of the near-mythical intelligence agency known as the Shuos. After an evening at Jedao’s town house that should have been all kinds of awkward and uncomfortable but had somehow turned out quite fun, Cheris had half-accidentally become something of a confidante to him, and only a month ago he’d all but begged her to accompany him to the New Year’s party.

Maybe it had been the near-comical desperation in his voice that had made her say yes. She never could deny someone who needed her help.

 

“You’re tense.” The words, spoken in Jedao’s voice, brought her back to the present. “Are you not enjoying yourself?” She looked up to see that he’d acquired a refill of his drink again, and he was looking at her with something that might have been concern in his dark eyes.

“You try walking in these heels all night,” she muttered half under her breath. That wasn’t an answer to his question, but it was going to have to do. Nor were the heels the whole reason, or even the main reason for her discomfort, and she knew he knew it, but she was not going to start talking about how out of place she felt.

A wry smirk twitched the corners of Jedao’s mouth, as if to acknowledge everything she left unspoken, and when he spoke again it was to address what she had said out loud. “Bold of you to assume I haven’t.” The smirk widened into a grin at Cheris’ incredulous look. “Why, did you imagine I’ve never been to a drag party? You disappoint me, Cheris.”

Not particularly appreciative of his tone, Cheris shot back, “Maybe you should be the one wearing the dress, then.” She certainly would have felt more comfortable in a suit herself.

He gave a shrug that might have been apologetic, or not. “They don’t make those in my size,” he replied, as though that was the only problem with the suggestion. “So are the heels truly that bad, or are you good to dance?”

Forcefully shoving aside the unexpectedly intriguing mental images of Jedao in drag, Cheris nodded. “I can dance.”

“Great!” Jedao tossed back the rest of his drink and abandoned the glass on a nearby table, then took her hand again and led her to the dancefloor. 

 

Cheris hadn’t lied when she said she could dance, but she was adequate at it at best; Jedao, however, was phenomenal. Graceful and confident, he led her through the steps and twirls of the dance, making her feel light on her feet in a way she’d never felt before. Some way through the first dance she realised that she was actually enjoying herself, which was a first for a formal ball, and even Jedao seemed more relaxed than earlier. Cheris glanced up and he met her eyes, flashing a winning smile, and she couldn’t help but smile back.

They danced three more songs before Cheris indicated that she needed a break. They retired back to the fringes of the room, and Jedao acquired new drinks for them both on the way. “Why did you never tell me you dance so well?” he asked as they found a slightly less crowded spot and settled to watch the crowd still dancing.

Cheris arched an eyebrow up at him. “Isn’t that my line?”

Jedao grinned back at her. “Oh, I didn’t imagine I needed to tell you,” he said. “I thought it was a given.”

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Cheris took a sip of her drink. Then again, she’d always admired the way Jedao moved, so perhaps she should have expected him to be an excellent dancer.

 

After a while, Jedao excused himself to visit the restroom, leaving Cheris alone for a time. Suddenly self-conscious all over again, she tried to blend into the wall behind her and attract no undue attention, and for a while it seemed that she might indeed be left alone… But of course it couldn’t last. 

The man who approached her was as tall as Jedao but more slender and quite possibly the most beautiful human being Cheris had ever laid eyes on, with softly curling hair and perfect eyebrows and lips that seemed perpetually set in a sardonic half-smile. Watching him walk through the crowd that parted before him, Cheris suddenly realised she’d only thought Jedao graceful because she hadn’t known any better.

“You appear to have misplaced your date,” the man said without preamble. Even his voice was ridiculously beautiful, Cheris noted with a touch of dismay. “A pity. I was hoping he would introduce us, but it seems I must do everything myself.”

“He’ll be back any moment, no doubt,” Cheris replied blandly, willing the words to be true.

The answering smile was so painfully polite it bordered on condescending. “Of course.” Conspicuously, despite his earlier words, he still didn’t introduce himself. Instead he went on, “You’ve read Roskoya’s new paper on the Esfarel Theorem, I trust?”

Cheris blinked at the abrupt change of subject, but the subject matter indicated that she was in the presence of a fellow mathematician. She felt like that should have put her more at ease, but something about the man still made her wary. “Yes, I have,” she replied since he seemed to be expecting an answer.

The smile widened a fraction, and something avid glittered in the depths of his eyes. He tilted his head slightly and asked, “Any thoughts?”

The poor man must be as desperate to escape the party as she was, Cheris concluded, trying to shake the persistent feeling of wrongness about him. If there was something off about his manner, she told herself, well, mathematicians just weren’t always the most socially adept people out there. “He makes some good points,” she replied, “but nowhere near as groundbreaking as he seems to think.”

The answer seemed to satisfy him, if the suddenly brilliant smile that seemed to light up the room was any indication. “My thoughts precisely. Will you dance with me, while we wait for your wayward date?”

Cheris had no chance to politely decline before she was being swept along back to the dancefloor. Her mysterious companion was an even better dancer than Jedao, which at this point didn’t surprise Cheris in the least, but unlike Jedao, he made her feel clumsy in comparison. Jedao’s decisive lead had compensated for her lack of experience, but her new partner danced like he expected excellence of his partner and anything that fell short of his expectations wasn’t worth the courtesy of extra effort from his part. A part of Cheris still wanted to give him the benefit of doubt, to assume that he was just a socially inept but well-meaning colleague, but she was beginning to suspect that he was in fact a self-centered jerk. Either way, she hoped Jedao would return soon.

 

When the orchestra finished the piece, Cheris spotted Jedao at the edge of the crowd and made a beeline towards him before her mysterious companion could object. He followed obediently enough, smiling faintly as he watched Jedao watching them approach.

“There you are,” the stranger said as they reached Jedao, eyes bright with some secret amusement and the smile on his lips sharp enough to draw blood. “I kept Cheris here company while you were gone.”

“So, do you want a cookie?” Jedao replied, the humour in his voice clearly strained.

For some reason, this seemed to delight the stranger. “If you’re offering…”

Jedao made a disgusted face and placed his arm casually around Cheris’ waist. “Leave off, Kujen,” he said, an edge to his voice that Cheris hadn’t heard before. Cheris froze; Kujen, as in Hajoret Kujen, the owner of Nirai Industries? She shot a quick look up at Jedao, but he wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were intent on Kujen as he went on, “Go play with your boytoys if you must amuse yourself.”

The razor-sharp smile turned outright cruel for a second and something dangerous flashed in Kujen’s eyes. “Oh, my dear, but I  _ am _ .”

 

Cheris had no time to react. She felt the sudden tension in the man by her side, but she couldn’t imagine that he might do something so stupid as to get physically violent at a corporate event, and then Jedao’s fist was flying at the impossibly beautiful face —

Kujen on the other hand must have anticipated the move, because he dodged the fist with infuriating ease and grasped Jedao’s wrist in an iron grip. Ignoring the fact that everybody within eyeshot was staring openly at them, he simply flashed that cutting smile again. “You must be getting old,” he said, something like pity in his tone, “or maybe it’s the drink. You always did drink too much.”

With an inarticulate growl, face twisted with fury, Jedao wrenched himself free of Kujen’s grip and grasped him by the front of his absurdly frilly shirt. Instead of fighting back, Kujen just laughed in his face. “And what, pray tell, were you planning to do next?” he asked, for all the world sounding like the question was merely one of mild academic interest.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cheris could see security guards approaching, though they were being slowed down by the crowd that was reluctant to step aside and miss the rest of the spectacle. She touched Jedao’s arm lightly. “I think we should leave,” she said in a low voice. She wasn’t sure what was going on between the two men, besides the obvious, but she knew she had to get Jedao out of here.

Kujen spared her a glance and a wicked grin. “At least someone here has some amount of common sense,” he noted, still utterly nonchalant about being manhandled by Jedao.

Ignoring him, Cheris spoke again. “Jedao, do you hear me?”

Struggling visibly to control his temper, Jedao finally gave a stiff nod. He drew a deep breath, made as if to speak, but instead he just shook his head and tossed Kujen aside like a ragdoll. Then he turned without another word and stalked off. The security guards, who had finally made it through the crowd, started after him, but Kujen — picking himself up and making a show of dusting himself off — told them to leave it. 

As she hurried after Jedao, Cheris had the unnerving impression that this was the most fun Kujen had had all night.

 

Jedao didn’t speak again until they were in the taxi halfway back to his house. Then he finally seemed to snap out of whatever dark rage he’d worked himself into and looked at Cheris again. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean to ruin your night.”

Cheris shook her head and, after a moment’s hesitation, took his hand; the gesture seemed to startle him but he didn’t pull away. “You didn’t,” she said. “Kujen did.”

Jedao made an impatient little sound and waved his other hand as if dismissing the argument. “I shouldn’t have let him get to me,” he said. “But he has a way of —  I practically handed him that opening with the comment about boytoys. He’s right, I’d drunk too much — ”

“He’s an uncommon asshole,” Cheris said firmly, “and you need to stop blaming yourself for other people’s shitty behaviour right now.” It was obvious that there was a history between the two, and the nature of that history was easy to guess, at least in general terms, and that made her despise Kujen even more.

The underlying steel in her voice shut the arguments down. For a while Jedao just stared blankly at nothing, as though her arguing on his behalf had made something in his brain short-circuit. Then he gave her a sideways look and chuckled faintly. “You do realise he owns the entire company you work for.”

In fact Cheris hadn’t been completely certain it was the same man, but she wasn’t too surprised to hear the confirmation, so she just nodded. “He’s making me want to reassess my career choices,” she muttered.

Through his hand, that she was still holding, she felt him wince. But, wisely, if he had opinions on the matter of her career choices, he kept them to himself. He seemed somehow even more rattled by her sympathy than by the incident in the first place, and that had all kinds of implications Cheris wasn’t sure she wanted to be thinking too closely about at this hour.

 

The taxi stopped in front of Jedao’s town house, and again he seemed to shake himself forcibly back to the present. “We should have driven you home first,” he muttered. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay the driver so you can get home.”

Cheris looked at him. “I don’t think you should be alone tonight,” she said. Maybe that was presumptuous of her, but if there was a chance he was stuck in a dangerous headspace, she wasn’t going to leave him to his own devices.

Again, he looked visibly taken aback by her concern. She could see him wanting to dismiss it with humour, but eventually he just said, “I’m safe enough. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Maybe not,” Cheris replied, “but I do.” She sighed, suddenly feeling the lateness of the hour. “Look, if you actually want to be alone, I’ll go, of course. But I’d sleep better if I knew you’re not alone in that spooky, big house of yours.”

He stared at her for a moment, then managed a slightly crooked smile. “Fair enough.” He paid the driver and helped her out of the car, a gesture that she was vaguely grateful for because she was also feeling the hours of wearing more heels than she was used to. He led her inside and took her coat like the perfect gentleman, and then he seemed suddenly at a loss. 

“...Forgive me if I don’t quite know what to do,” he said with a self-deprecating chuckle, “it’s been a while since I brought somebody home without the intention of fucking them.”

For some reason, after everything that had happened, that felt disproportionately funny and Cheris had to stifle a helpless giggle as she rid herself of her fancy shoes and dumped them unceremoniously on the floor. “If you have a t-shirt or something I could borrow, to sleep in, that would be a start?”

 

Jedao found her a t-shirt and even a soft bathrobe and slippers while she washed off her make-up, and a little while later they were sitting on the couch, not-really-watching some trashy action movie that happened to be on tv at this hour. Cheris was tired but reluctant to get up and go to sleep in the guestroom that Jedao had given her for the night. She leaned her head on Jedao’s shoulder, and he shifted to put his arm around her. She wasn’t sure when exactly this had become so natural, or maybe it was because she was half asleep, but it didn’t feel awkward at all.

“Why did you really want to stay?” Jedao asked quietly, his voice jolting Cheris back from the brink of sleep.

Cheris blinked and stifled a yawn. “I don’t know,” she said, which wasn’t entirely true but she didn’t feel up to talking about it in depth right now.  They could do the whole heartfelt confessions thing later, if he still wanted to talk about it once he'd sobered up. She might even insist. But, not tonight.  “Maybe I thought you needed a friend. And,” she added before he had a chance to protest, “I don’t have too many friends, either, so we’re even, okay?”

Jedao was silent for so long that she began to drift off again, unsure whether he’d really spoken in the first place. Then, finally, the last thing before sleep claimed her, she heard him say, “Fair enough.”


End file.
